Be Heard, Gain Insight, and Change

Experienced psychotherapist in Crouch End, Muswell Hill & North London

An accredited counsellor and psychotherapist based in Muswell Hill and Crouch End

We all have difficulties and need some extra help at times.

We can work together to:... gain understanding and insight... achieve a sense of relief ... make the changes you need

My name is Andrew Martin and I have been a practising counsellor in North London for the past 12 years. I am committed to providing counselling in a safe, confidential and non-judgmental environment.

George, Crouch End: "I thoroughly enjoyed working with Andrew; he helped me when I felt I had nowhere else to turn. Andrew shows real empathy and understanding during sessions while working toward results, so you feel like things are getting better.

Together we came up with new ideas on how to approach the issues I was facing and to move forward, and I am in a much better place now having spent the time with him."

My approach to counselling

For some people, it is important to understand the past, while others prefer to work in a more solution-focused way. I take an integrative approach to counselling and psychotherapy, which allows a really flexible treatment based on your individual needs. Click here to learn more about my qualifications and experience.

Areas of experience

As a counsellor in North London I work a lot with relationship issues, and the feelings of betrayal, low self-esteem and stress associated with separation and divorce. A counsellor can help you clarify your thoughts and feelings and discover how to move forward with your relationship.

Another area of counselling expertise for me is anxiety issues, such as generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or social anxiety, which is often linked to performance at work or other areas where people feel judged or exposed.

Anxiety is also linked to assertiveness issues like the experience of being 'used' or 'walked over' by the people in your life. This often leads to low self-esteem, depression, guilt and shame.

Max, Crouch End: "Working with Andrew was a really beneficial experience for me. He is easy to talk and open up with. I always felt safe, like he was on my side while helping me to look honestly at stuff I didn't really want to see.

We looked at my problems in a constructive way so I could see what was going wrong and take practical steps to go right through the middle of my anxiety. It's been a great experience, and so much as changed as a result."

What to expect

Our psychotherapy process starts with an assessment session to explore your reasons for seeking out a counsellor. We’ll discuss what’s bothering you, perhaps the stress, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, or relationship issues that you are seeking help with.

You might talk about your background, your relationships, or what you hope to achieve through counselling and psychotherapy. It's also a good time to ask me questions about the counselling process, and I’ll answer them as clearly as I can.

By the end of the session you’ll probably know if you feel safe with me, and want to come back and see me again.

From my perspective I want to use the first session to get to know you, to explain things like confidentiality, what I offer, and what it might feel like to work with me.

I’ll also start to formulate your concerns using one or more psychological models. At the end of the session, I’ll tell you my thoughts and recommend our next steps.

If we both feel that there is a good ‘match’ then I will suggest a time-limited course of counselling. I find it useful to begin in this structured way since it provides a good opportunity to step back and evaluate progress.

We would also need to agree on a location for counselling in Muswell Hill, or Crouch End that you can attend for 50 minutes a week for an agreed number of weeks.

What do you need help with?

Click on the "Conditions" tab at the top of this page to see some of my key areas of expertise. Issues like panic attacks, OCD, social anxiety, and relationship issues are explored in more detail on these pages. Click on each one to find out more about the condition and how I approach its treatment.

Below are excerpts of the most recent text to be added to this website.

I am happy to answer any questions you have so; please feel free to contact me.

Private Healthcare Insurance

I am a registered provider with many of the leading private healthcare organisations. If you have private health insurance that covers counselling, psychotherapy or addiction counselling, you may find that they will pay for some or all of the costs of seeing me.

I can also arrange to see patients covered by Allianz Worldwide, Bupa, Bupa International, Healix Health Services, and Exeter Family Friendly. Just let me know when you contact me that you wish to use health insurance to pay and I can let you know the next steps to take.

If your healthcare provider isn't mentioned above, it is still possible they will cover your treatment. Please call so we can discuss it further.

New Article: Assertiveness in Relationships

Introduction:I want to give a general overview of how anxiety can be at the core of relationship difficulties. “John” is not an actual client but rather a typical example that best illustrates what many of my relationship clients say to me, and the work we typically do together to help resolve their relationship problems.

The problem:John is a 36-year-old man who has been married to Sarah for the past 3 years. He comes to me seeking psychotherapy to help with depression and relationship issues. He says that he is no longer getting on with Sarah, they bicker all the time, and can’t seem to have a conversation without it turning into an argument.

In fact John discloses that he feels quite intimidated or even scared by Sarah. He is worried that if he says what he actually thinks to her she will lose her temper with him, and so he says nothing as that feels easier.

Over time John has become resentful and feels like the only option he has left is to leave the relationship. However, when he seriously thinks of leaving Sarah, he is aware that this is really not what he wants at all. He fears he will lose access to their young children and also that he will be lonely. Moreover, he’s sure he still loves her. What he really wants is to be able to have the relationship that they used to have, where he felt that they were a team and he was not scared of her irrational angry responses to what he says.

How to understand what is happening for John:Although John has come to me with depression and relationship issues, that is not what I see as the main cause of the depression and breakdown in his relationship with Sarah.

The depression is there because John cannot imagine a way through the relationship problems and feels trapped and hopeless. He sees his options as being either to stay as things are with a wife he walks on eggshells around and cannot be honest with, or to leave her, giving up his chance at a family life. Both options seem terrible to John. In my opinion, this sense of being trapped, unable to find a way out, is what is causing the depression.

Anxiety in relationships:As we work together, John starts to see that he has got into the habit of not being honest with Sarah about his real thoughts and feelings. It doesn’t matter if it’s about what they are going to have for dinner that night or what school to send their child to. Big or small, John often no longer tells Sarah his truth. John has got into the habit of being sensitive to what Sarah wants and then just going along with it. He is worried about what he sees as her irrational and angry reaction to anything he says that she doesn’t agree with.

What started out as a simple case of not telling her his truth so he did not have to deal with her anger has now become an ingrained set of roles in the relationship that both parties have fallen into without even noticing it.

John is doing what we all do when we are suffering from almost any kind of anxiety disorder. He is avoiding short-term pain (the chance of confrontation if he is honest with Sarah), but the outcome of this avoidance is that he experiences long-term, chronic pain instead ( feeling depressed, bitter, resentful, blaming Sarah for the problem, feeling trapped). This may also affect his self-esteem and confidence in other areas of life.

The solution:For John it is essential to understand that his partner cannot know what he isn’t telling her. His silence guarantees his ongoing misery and hopelessness. However, it is not as simple as saying to a client like John “Off you go, and tell your partner what you actually think”. This doesn’t work for two reasons...

Gilbert, Muswell Hill: "I think Andrew is an amazing counsellor. He made it easy and comfortable to talk. He had the ability to sit back and let me talk and know exactly which points to pick up on and expand.

I have never had such confidence in a counsellor before, Andrew enabled me to explore and understand aspects of me that I've never managed to reach before.

I would highly recommend Andrew as I have had a number of counsellors and he has been the first one I have been able to be totally honest with and open up to. I wouldn't be where I am now without him."

Alcohol & Addiction (Part 2)

Still drinking:Alcohol-use disorders are hard to deal with for many reasons, not least of which is that, from the outside, the sufferer looks like they must be insane to keep drinking. Friends, family and colleagues can see that alcohol is a part of the problem.

However, from the inside, alcohol often feels like it is a big part of the solution. It can provide relief from pressure, worry and anxiety; it offers a break from feeling that life is miserable and spinning out of control. Boredom and depression can be halted for a while.

Drinking can give the anxious person a brief respite from his or her ever-present fear. Alcohol can help the person to overcome the sense of unease long enough to get the practical things of life done.

In short, drinking can feel like a practical solution for dealing with day-to-day life.

I've never yet met a stupid alcoholic. It is not a lack of common sense that leads to the continued use of a substance. It is not only friends, but also the sufferers themselves who can see that drinking has a destructive side. On the one hand they feel less depressed for the moment when they drink; on the other hand, they feel demoralised and defeated when they wake the next day.

This situation when a person inhabits contradictory spaces is called being in a state of ambivalence. Resolving this ambivalent state is key to the process for alcoholics and addicts to move on with their lives.

We can have a set of conversations that are designed to help you identify your ambivalence and come to your own decision about what you want to do and how to go about doing it.

Eva, Crouch End: "I saw Andrew for 18 months to help with my anxiety and depression. I was dubious about therapy prior to starting, as people often are, but Andrew’s direct approach and expertise immediately challenged any negative assumptions I had.

I found my sessions with Andrew were a practical way of understanding my illness, and working through it at my own pace while being inspired to challenge myself and my beliefs.

I have been able to make many positive changes in my time spent working with Andrew, thanks to his support and guidance- which I didn’t think was possible before. Andrew is understanding and encouraging, and I am thankful for the time I spent working with him."

Learn about Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt

Introduction: Feelings of shame, embarrassment, or guilt can be some of the most unpleasant symptoms of anxiety. What they share is the sense that you are being judged and found wanting; the difference lies in who seems to be judging you. Shame and embarrassment are public, whereas guilt is private. When you feel ashamed or embarrassed, you think that other people disapprove of you. You have behaved in public in a way that shows you to be flawed or weak, and you believe that those around you share your negative opinion of yourself. Wishing that the earth would swallow you up, you may resolve to avoid public scrutiny in future, which only intensifies your anxiety.

For example, you may be having a fun time dancing round your living room listening to an uncool pop song from your youth, perhaps Steps singing “5,6,7,8,” a song that, although it makes you smile, has little musical credibility according to your social group -- and so you feel is best kept a secret. You are feeling happiness and joy as you sing into your hairbrush or play air guitar or whatever you are doing. So far, no problem. However, if you are unexpectedly disturbed by a flatmate or friend, you are likely to be drenched in a cold bucket of shame or embarrassment. It is the act of being seen doing something that you think others will judge you for that explains your feeling of shame. It is about breaking societal norms and rules.

Embarrassment & ShameEmbarrassment is not as painful as shame. You can perhaps joke about an embarrassing situation, but not a shameful one. Coping with feelings of shame means learning to distinguish between your behaviour and yourself. One unfortunate public lapse, or even several, does not mean that you are incompetent or foolish. You can choose to disagree with what you imagine other people are thinking about you. They may not be judging you harshly — or at all. Even if they do, what matters is not their disapproval but the importance you yourself attach to it, thus increasing your anxiety.

In the above example, relief could be found in acceptance that you like a catchy pop song, despite it not being very cool to do so. When you accept the truth about your own preferences, the shame is likely to be reduced to embarrassment, or even not experienced at all. However, guilt does not lend itself to the same easy reframing.

Guilt: breaking your own rules Guilt arises from breaching your own moral code, either by actions or thoughts that harm yourself, or by those that harm others. When you feel guilty, you disapprove of yourself. You may have failed to do something you should have done, or you may have done something you should not have done. In the example of listening to an uncool pop song, you are breaking a perceived societal rule — but not your own moral rules.

While shame may prompt you to hide or run away, guilt may prompt you, positively, to make amends, or negatively, either to punish yourself or to encourage others to punish you. In coping with guilt, it is helpful to consider just how much you are responsible for what you feel guilty about. This does not mean denying your responsibility, but rather trying to look objectively at the whole situation and any other factors involved. As with shame, it is important to distinguish between your behaviour and yourself. If you label yourself as “bad” or “wicked” because you have offended against your own moral code, that may only lead to more “bad” behaviour, to justify that label. A better way forward is to seek to understand why you acted as you did and to learn from your mistakes, in a non-judgmental therapeutic setting.

Parking in Muswell Hill, & Crouch End:

Parking in Muswell Hill, and Crouch End:If you are seeing me for counselling or psychotherapy in Muswell Hill, North London, parking is free in all the surrounding road. Try to leave an extra ten minutes just in case it is hard to get a space. Click to see a map of the local area.

For counselling or psychotherapy in Crouch End, North London, there is free parking most of the day with some exceptions. Click to see a map of the local area.

Andrew Martin Counsellor and Psychotherapist in Muswell Hill, Crouch End & East Finchley North London

Areas of Expertise

Testimonials

"Andrew’s a good listener. Talking through my relationship problems made them seem much more manageable and was a relief for me. I saw where I was getting stuck and what practical changes I could make to help me with my goals."(Muswell Hill, North London)

"Anxiety was making my life smaller; I couldn't go to work or get on the tube. Andrew helped me to see what was going on, and what I could do to change things. It was a challenging process at times, but it was totally worth it. I no longer feel trapped. Definitely worth the effort!"(Crouch End, North London)

"I was anxious about getting a counsellor, but Andrew is knowledgeable and easy to talk to. I felt safe with him."(Crouch End, North London)